An Interview with Prof. Daniel Orey

An Interview with Mr. Daniel

My answers are shared here in blue... I hope that is ok!Date: 18th June 07.(begun late on the 19th of June, 2007)

Hello! Sir,Namaste!It is our pride, pleasure and a great opportunity to be with you at this moment.

I am humbled to be here, and deeply honored to be asked to work with you all.

Ethnomathematics was a strange subject for us when it was introduced in K.U. It was a dream for all of us to meet the persons like you who worked and made significant contribution in this area. The dream has turned into reality.

No, the dream is mine! To travel to Nepal has been a dream of mine for a very long time, I am so very honored to be here and to work with you all.

We hope the moment we spend with you here in Nepal will be productive in many aspects for us, nepali people, the society and of course for the world. We believe that we are trying to learn how to make a good start in the field of ethnomathematics, I am sure you are! we are very young in this area. We are not sure whether our questionnaires will meet your expectations or not, but we hope that you will understand our limitations in different angles. We would like to ask your permission for the following queries:Please sir, take enough space to spell out all your feelings.a)

How do you like to introduce yourself? How do you enumerate the influence of your family, culture, place of birth, politics of the work place and personal nature in the journey of your mathematics and ethnomathematics?

I like to be called Daniel, though I think in this culture that form of informality is not acceptable. Though in Brasil, like California most everyone refers to each other by their first name. Dr. Orey is good, I am not worried about titles, just call me friend!I was born in San José, California a very long time ago (in 1955). My parents were a typical young middle class protestant couple of the time. I have one sister (two years younger). I was very fortunate - I have been given every opportunity imaginable, and my parents spent a great deal of energy making sure that I didn't see too many things that were uncomfortable or unpleasant. I went to college and became a teacher, and after three years I was married and convinced my wife that we needed to live overseas for awhile. So it was that we got jobs in Guatemala. I didn't know anything about Guatemala then, and learned about injustice, and suffering, and extreme poverty, classism, and racism, and for the first time I saw the consequences of my country's foreign polices for those less fortunate... but despite all these things I saw the sweetness of the Mayan people. They are so strong, despite 500 years of colonial domination, and the current horrors they were experiencing... they taught me so very much.

I am and we are not registered for any political party (I find them divisive and contrary to unity, and not interested in what the people need) but I always vote, and I would say that I am a very liberal progressive, and believe in the full expression and freedom of individuals no matter what their religion, sexual orientation, gender, political party, race, national origin, or language. My trip here to Nepal really confirms something basic in my religious foundation - that all people everywhere on this planet have much more in common than they have different. Though the food, language, customs are different, underneath all of this - we are all essentially the same - we love, we laugh, we like good food, good drink, good friends, we all have dreams and wish for societies based on peace and justice. It gives me such hope for this world that is so full of problems! What is the purpose of visit to Nepal? How many countries have you been visited till now regarding the ethnomath project? My purpose to come to Nepal is to work with KU in relation to ethnomath and mathematics education. Countires in relation to my work in ethnomath? Hmmm... Brasil (of course!), Guatemala, México, Costa Rica, Italy, and now Nepal.

How can the study of ethnomath help in the development of economically poor countries like Nepal? How do you suggest the concerned authorities?

It can only be helpful in assisting any culture in coming to value what it has. Mathematically, my hope for the ethnomath research group here is that you have a very short window to document as much as you can about the old customs and ways of counting, ordering, ciphering, etc. Nepal is about to change and when the younger generation begins to play computer games, etc... they will no longer want to know about or will forget the old and unique Nepali ways of thinking, learning and doing mathematics (this is consistent to "development" in Brasil and the United States).


Universalists claim that the ethnomath project will destroy the peace and harmony between the cultures in the world, how do you justify?

No, that seems very strange to me, I haven\'the faintest idea what a universalsit is, or whay they might think this. As Ubiratan D\'Ambrosio has said: "An individual, hopes in this phase of the evolution of our species, that the respect for diverse peoples will not be replaced by our arrogance, envy and great power and that in solidarity, we will be able to contribute to the preservation of a common inheritance." How do you advise the university graduates who want to join in the agenda of ethnomathematics? What about the future? I hope that each of you comes to understand what D\'Ambrosio is sharing with us all. I hope that each one of you can document - using mathematical modeling - and save as much of the traditional ways of doing mathematics before it disappears forever. Nepal is about to make incredible changes - it will need to retain its "Nepalness" while gaining its own , new voice and entering and fully participating in the world economy and politics. The world does not need another copy of the Untied States, China or India... what we need is a strong, vibrant and confident Nepal. One that has all the information it needs to solve its own problems. It is my hope that Nepal will look at countries that have come out of the long dark nightmare of war and violence like you are, and look at them as roll models and seek their input and guidance. I speak chiefly of Chile and Brasil - I hope that some students from Nepal might go and study in Brasil and that Brazilians might come to KU to study someday. We are grateful to you for your valuable time and your heartfelt attempts to enrich nepali ethnomath. No, I am most grateful to you all for your interest, love and respect for ethnomathematics. I cannot enrich Nepali ethnomath - it is already very rich... you just need to find it!

Namaste!

Thank you Kumes (A club of M.ed students at K.U. with a slogan "mathematics for all")Interviewed by:Amrit Bahadur Thapa, L.B Gurung, Krishna Poudel------------------------------------Daniel Clark Orey, PhDSenior Fulbright Specialist - NepalCNPq Fellow - BrasilProfessor, California State University, Sacramentohttp://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/oreyd/resume.htmhttp://ubnotorious.blogspot.com/ <http://ubnotorious.blogspot.com/http:/www.kiva.org/>http://www.kiva.org/